Moon: Phillips implies agreement will be reached

The precarious state of negotiations between NFL players and owners continued teetering through Friday but a tiny choice of words by Bears President Ted Phillips on Friday reinforced the impression that the labor situation will be resolved, later if not sooner.

The Bears are not cutting staff or salaries in anticipation of a lockout or other actions that could imperil offseason programs if not 2011 regular-season games at some point.

Our job on a team level is to continue to do everything in our power to be ready when an agreement is reached to bring another championship back to Chicago, Phillips said, and thats what were focused on.

The operative words from Phillips: when an agreement is reached.

Not if. No qualifiers.

Neither Phillips nor Bears Vice Chairman George McCaskey volunteered thoughts on how a resolution of the complex financial issues may ultimately be resolved. And neither questioned the commitment to reaching an agreement by both sides, as some rhetoric began to suggest Thursday.

I do know that the league and the union are meeting with the mediator again today, Phillips said during show of support by Bears players and the organization and others for legislation dealing with concussions in Illinois sports. So until were told otherwise, we all remain hopeful that the game will continue.

Its the best game in the world and everyones working hard at trying to get an agreement.

John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider, and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.